BANFF, Alberta – Canadian film financier Blue Ice Group is getting deeper into film and TV production by acquiring Daniel Iron’s Foundry Films.

A two-decade veteran of the Canadian production sector, Iron will head up Blue Ice’s Canadian division as president of production.

Steven Silver and Neil Tabatznik’s Blue Ice have charged Iron with overseeing film and TV production, including international co-productions, out of Toronto.

The move follows Blue Ice last year acquiring Lance Samuel’s Out of Africa Entertainment to establish a production base in South Africa.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the latest acquisition from Blue Ice underlines how increased global demand for event TV miniseries structured as international co-productions has spurred a host of merger and acquisitions opportunities for Canadian producers.

“I’ve been working on my own, and had some success, but it was interesting to work with another partner like Lance to expand my reach,” said Iron, who has produced or executive produced indie pics like Sarah Polley’s Away From Her,Ruba Nadda’s Cairo Time and Nathan Morlando’s Edwin Boyd.

Iron, Samuels and Blue Ice previously collaborated on The Bang Bang Club, the Ryan Phillippe starrer that was shot in South Africa.

They also reteamed on Nadda’s Inescapable, before the decision was made to cement ties with the Foundry Films buyout.

Iron’s TV credits include The Four Seasons and Don Giovanni Unmasked produced at indie Rhombus Media before he left to form Foundry Films in 2004.

“Lance has worldwide contacts, and I’ve worked on my own, so I really relish being able to combine resources and build something new and bigger,” Iron added of Blue Ice's financial backing and support taking his production efforts to the next level.

Iron’s first producer gig under the Blue Ice banner is Nadda’s latest feature, October Gale, to star Patricia Clarkson and to start production in Fall 2013.

Christine Vachon is executive producing.

Iron will also get on board a six-part miniseries, Madiba, based on the life of Nelson Mandela and to be produced by the U.K.’s Left Bank Pictures, Blue Ice Films and Out of Africa Entertainment.

Mandela's grandson, Kweku Mandela, will co-produce for Out of Africa Entertainment.

Blue Ice’s film credits include Roger Spottiswoode's Shake Hands With the Devil and Sturla Gunnarson’s Force of Nature: The David Suzuki Movie.

The financier’s Blue Lake Entertainment Fund has also backed movies like Deepa Mehta’s Midnight’s Children and Alexander Payne's Nebraska.